Portable bleacher stand



T. O. HOPPES Jan. 5, 1 932.

Jan. 5, 1932. T. o. HOPPES PORTABLE BLEACHER STAND Filed Dec. 9, 1930ZSheetS-Sheet 2 Patented Jan. 5, 1932 i V 7 V UNI'E; -srA'rus PATENTOFFICE- rnolunsolnorrns, or TAMAQUA, PENNSYLVANIA PORTABLE BLEAGHERSTAND Application filed December 9, 1930. Serial No. 501,116.

r This invention relates to a portable bleach- Theinvention isillustrated in the accoms er stand and one object of the invention is top ying w ng wh ein a provide a. stand ada t d to b erect d u on a Figure1 is a perspective View of the imball field, in a gymnasium, or otherhall as a p ved blea hel Stand, temporary eating stru tu Fig. 2 is afragmentary view looking at one 55 Another object of the invention is toso dp he S -{1d, I

construct the stand that it may be easily and gis a V EW in Sideelevation of one of quickly set up for use and also easily and the up ghs When folded, 4 quickly dismantled when no longer needed gs a trasverse sectional view taken and to further so construct the stand thatOn h t -t g- 160 when it is erected it will'be very strong and i; 5 aVleW h g 0116 Of the pr p not be liabl to oll of the uprlghts whenfolded, and Anoth r bj t f th i ti i t Fig. 6 is aview illustratlngamodified form vide the stand with improved uprights which of P PP; ay beeasily and quickly set-up for use and This improved stand consists of anumber e5 when not in use reduced to a compact mass 0f p g llldlcftted-111 general y the I111- capable of being stored in a small space. metaland Servlng as Supports seat Another object of the invention is to. pro-9 2 and foot boards 3 Whlch eXtend 10nvide improved props for upper barsf th gltu-dinally of the stand between the uprlghts 2' uprights and alsoprovide improved means 1h CIOSSQd Felatlon thereto- V to brace theseprops when in use and prevent The P g are of it {11110110313600I1StI11C4 them from slipping rea-rwardly when in place tlOIl and e hasit ba l 4 and an upper and allowing the stand to collapse while in bar 5Whwh y be moved from a folded pouse. sition in which it extendslongitudlnally of Another-object of the invention is to prot e base barcloselyabw he me, shown '1 vide the upper bar of each upright with img aralsed p n, as shown n proved brackets to which seat boards and foot g'l 1, in which it extends rearwardly 1n boards are to be attached and soapply these p y g g lqn 0 the base bar. brackets toth up r bar f th i htSockets 6 are secured against s de faces of that the foot boards andseat boards may b the upper bar in opposed relation to each '80 firmlysupported in proper spaced relation to other to lecelve 1 1 1 e ds ofprops by means each other. of which the upper bar 18 to be supported 1nAnother object of the inventio i t so araised position. In the presentillustration, dispose the brackets upon the upper bars of tWO P P h e bn u ed o support an upper 5 th u ri ht th t h th t d i di bar ofeachupright but it will be understood tled and the upper bars of theuprights lowthat as many props may be used as found ered to a foldedposition portions of the necessary according to the s1ze of the stand.brack t a ngag it id faceg of These props may be constructed as shown 1nbase bars to which the upper bars are attached Flgures 1 and 5 or asshown 1n Figure 6. In 40 and prevent the. upper bars from moving theform shown n Flgures 1 and 5, each transversely of th low bar propconsists of side bars 7 formed of Wood Another object of the inventionis to proa d they are pivotally connected by straps 8 vide the baseharsoftheuprights with ground extending transversely of the bars andseengaging feet at their ends which serve to cured thereto by bolts orequivalent fasteners brace the base bars against transverse tilting 9passed throughthe bars and end, portions and also are adapted to engageends of the of the straps. Therefore, each side bar deupper bars whenlowered and assist the break fines a supporting leg havlnga aw 10 at itsets in preventing the upper bars from movupper end andut wlllbe readilyseen-that, in transversely out of their proper positlons when the propis set 1n place with the aws ab dve the base bars. at its upper endsengaged through the sockets I 6, the upper bar will be firmly supportedas it will be gripped between the jaws 10 and also supported againstdownward movement by the sockets and by resting upon the straps 8 whichpivotally connect the side bars of the props. The companion straps arepivotally connected by pins 9 which engage through openings in theoverlapping end portions of the straps. Braces 11 of the break oint typeare provided to limit movement of the lower ends of the side bars 7 ofthe props away from each other.

The prop shown in Figure 6 is formed of angle metal and consists of sidebars 12 which have their upper end portions bent, as shown at 13, toextend in'cross relation to each other and terminate in upwardlyextending jaws 14 to engage in the sockets =5 and firmly grip the upperbar of an upright. A fastener 15 extends through the crossed portions 13to pivotally connect the side armsof the prop, and in order to limitmovement of the lower ends of the side arms away from each other, therehas been provided a break joint brace 16 similar to the brace 11.

1V hen these props are set in place, they are disposed in straddlingrelation-to the base barof an upright and are disposed at a rearincline, as shown in Figure 2, so that strain will be appliedlongitudinally of the props when the stand is occupied. Bracing bars 17extend between the uprights and rest upon the upper edge faces of thebase bars l back of the props and these bracing bars are engaged bybooks 18 which are pivoted in the base bars and adapted to be swung intoand out of position to engage the bracing bars. By this arrangement thebracing bars will be prevented from moving rearwardly along the basebars l of the uprights and since the legs or side bars of the propsengage the bracing bars, as shown clearly in Figure 2, the props will beprevented from slipping rearwardly and the stand will be prevented fromcollapsing.

In order to mount the eat boards 2 and foot boards 8, there has beenprovided brackets 19 which are securedagainst side faces of the upperbar ofeach upright in spaced relation to each other longitudinallythereof. Each of these brackets is formed from a strip of strong metaland each strip is bent in spaced relation to its ends to form a brackethaving a vertically disposed intermediate portion 20 and upper and lowerhorizontal portions 21 and 22 extending from its ends. The verticalportion is secured against the side face of the upper bar 5 of theupright by a bolt or other suitable fastener 23 and the rear end of theupper horizontal portion is twisted, as shown at 24, to form a footthrough which a fastener 25 is passed. The forward end of the lowerhorizontal portion is bent upwardly as shown at 26, and ithen twisted toform a foot 27 through which a fastener28 is passed. It will thus beseen that the bracket will be very firmly secured to the upper bar ofthe upright with its upper horizontal portion 21 disposed above theupper bar and its lower horizontal portion disposed below the upper bar.Therefore, the seat boards and foot boards may be removably secured tothe brackets by bolts 29 and they will be firmly secured in properspaced relation to each other for convenient use as seats and footrests. Since the seat boardsand foot boards are secured by bolts, theymay be easily detached when the stand is to be dismantled. Referring toFigures 1 and 3, it will be seen that the brackets carried by the upperbar ofeach upright are laterally disposed against opposite ,side facesof the upper bar. Therefore, when the upper bar is swung downwardlytothe folded position shown in Figure 3, the depending portions of thebrackets will engage opposite side faces of the base bar and the upperbar will be prevented from moving transversely out of its properposition directly above the base bar. The forward bracket of eachupright has the lower horizontal portion omitted and itsvertically-disposed portion extends downwardly at a curve and terminatesnear the lower edge of the base bar where it is secured by a bolt orequivalent fastener 30 which also engages through the lower end of astrip 31 disposed against the opposite side of the base bar This strip31 extends-upwardly and is secured against the adjacent side face of theupper bar 5 by bolts .or equivalentfasteners 32 which also pass throughthevertically disposed portion of thefrontbracket. By this arrangearms34 which project upwardly above the base bar and are adapted to engageopposite side faces of ends of the upper bar whenthe upper bar is in thelowered folded position verse movement of the folded upper bar.Therefore, the upper bar when folded will be firmly held inits properposition above the base 'bar and the folded upright imay be stacked in apile along with others when not in use without danger, of the base barand upper bar moving transversely of each other and causing the strip 81and vertically disposed portion of the frontbrackettobe twisted out ofshape. A

I have therefore, provided a bleacher stand which may be easily andquickly set up for temporary use and then taken down and stored awayuntil again needed. have fur sides of the base bar and other portions orand assist the brackets in preventing transther provided a portablebleacher stand which when set up will be very strong and durable and maybe occupied without danger of its collapsing.

Having thus described the invention, I claim:

1. A portable seating structure comprising uprights spaced transversely.from each other, substantially Z-shaped brackets carried by saiduprights and each consisting of a metal strip bent in spaced relation toits ends to form an intermediate portion extending above and below anupright and end portions disposed in vertically spaced horizontal planesand secured to the upright, seat boards extending transversely of saiduprights and releasably secured upon the upper horizontally disposedportions of said brackets, and foot boards extending transversely of theuprights and releasably secured uipon the lower horizontally disposedportions of said brackets.

2. A portable seating structure comprising stringers spaced transverselyfrom each other and extending rearwardly at an upward incline, bracketscarried by each stringer in spaced relation to each other longitudinallythereof and each having a vertically disposed intermediate portion andhorizontal disposed upper and lower end portions projecting in oppositedirections from the intermediate portion, seat boards extendingtransversely of said stringers and releasa-bly secured to the upperhorizontally disposed portions of said brackets, and foot! boardsextending transversely of the stringers and releasably secured to thelower horizontally disposed portions of said brackets.

3. A portable seating structure comprising uprights spaced transverselyfrom each other, each upright consisting of a base bar, an upper bardisposed above said base bar longitudinally thereof, props straddlingthe lower bar and engaging the upper bar to support the upper bar in araised position in rearwardly diverging relation to the base bar,brackets carried by said upper bar in spaced relation to each otherlongitudinally thereof and each having a vertically disposedintermediate portion and horizontally disposed upper and lower endportions projecting in opposite directions from the intermediateportion, the brackets being alternately disposed against oppositeside'faces of the upper bar and adapted to have their depend-' ingportions engage opposite side faces of the base bar when the upper baris lowered to a folded position, the upper bar being pivotally mountedadjacent its front end for swinging movement from a raised position to afolded position, seat boards extending transversely of said uprights andreleasably secured to the upper horizontally disposed portions of saidbrackets, and foot boards extending transversely of the uprights andreleasably secured to the lower horizontally disposed portions of saidbrackets. 4. A portable seating structure comprising uprights spacedtransversely from each other, each upright consisting of a base bar,

posed intermediate portion and horizontally disposed upper and lower endportions projecting in opposite directions from the intermediateportion, a strip secured against a side face of the upper bar near thefront end thereof opposite the vertical portion of the front bracket andtogether therewith pivoted to'the base bar, seat boards extending,

transversely of said uprights and releasably secured to the upperhorizontally disposed portions of said brackets, and foot boardsextending transversely of the uprights and releasably. secured to thelower horizontally disposed portions of said brackets.

55. An upright for a portable bleacher comprising a base bar, an upperbar movable from a raised position in rearwardly diverging relation tosaid base bar to a lowered folded position, brackets carried by saidupper bar in spaced relation to each other longitudinally thereof andeach having a vertically disposed intermediate portion and upper andlower horizontal portions projecting in opposite directions from ends ofthe intermediate portion longitudinally of the upper bar to support seatboards and foot boards, said brackets being alternately secured againstopposite side faces of the upper bar to engage opposite side faces ofthe base bar when the upper bar is folded, and

props to support the upper bar in a raised position having their upperends removably engaged with the upper bar.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

THOMAS O. HOPPES. [n s.]

